1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for transferring energy from one optical system to another. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for correcting optical mismatch and avoiding the necessity of using complex mirror or lens systems.
2. Background
In many situations it is necessary to transfer efficiently optical radiation from one system to another. While this can be achieved by proper design of optical interfacing systems (lenses, mirrors, etc), in some cases, such conventional interfacing is not always possible or desirable, for example, because of space limitations.
Such a situation can arise, for example, in the case of Raman Spectrophotometers. Here the sample may be irradiated by means of a laser source and the scattered radiation from the sample is then collected (by a mirror, for example) and re-focused into the spectrophotometer optical system. In the case of simple samples, the focal length of the collecting optics may be quite short and a large angle (for example, 60 to 90 degrees) for collection can be obtained with modestly sized mirrors. However, in more complex sampling situations, the sample handling equipment may itself be quite large and it may be impossible to bring the sample to the optimal location (the focal point of the collecting mirror). In such situations, additional conventional optics would be required or the collecting mirror would have to be replaced with one of larger focal length and substantially larger physical size or a mirror with a much reduced angle of collection for the radiation.